


The Other Side

by goddess_of_time_and_magic



Category: Ghost Adventures (TV), Ghost Adventures RPF
Genre: Angels, Angst, Death, Heaven, Hell, Husbands, Love, M/M, Old!Zak, angst with happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 20:11:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8461357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddess_of_time_and_magic/pseuds/goddess_of_time_and_magic
Summary: Nick dies of old age and Zak, having fallen into deep depression due to it, performs one last lockdown in the retirement room they shared together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I needed an angsty filled Nak fanfiction and this was the outcome. I honestly cried when I wrote this. It has a happy ending!

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/157063067@N06/36246292975/in/dateposted-public/)

Zak stared out into the dark abyss of night through his window. Cards and flowers from his living friends and family decorated the edges of the glass. It sickened him, the frilly cards and white roses and lilies. He was tired of hearing the words, ' _I'm sorry for your loss_.' He was so _fucking_ tired of hearing them. People thought that those words would help someone to recover, but it only made it worse.

Today was his funeral. Zak was there, of course. Dressed in his old tux from his wedding, his white rose still frozen in decay in his lapel. He walked, surprisingly, up to the grave and lay it on the mound of dirt. He cried as he was rolled away in his wheelchair back to the car and all the way back to the retirement home.

He was in hell, he knew it. He spent his whole life trying to figure out what lay beyond the grave, on the other side, without actually dying, but this was hell. He was alone in this world. Aaron was gone, having died several years prior, happily remarried with several kids. Billy and Jay, too, with their spouses. Then there was Nick. The man of Zak's life. He was gone and Zak was in hell because of it.

They had been married for forty years; their forty first anniversary coming up in a month and Zak had a big plan for it. It was never going to happen.

"Goodnight, Mr. Bagans- Groff!" One of the nurses called out to him and he acknowledged her with a wave.  
  
The lights went out in the room and his body was waiting for the TV to turn on and the sound of sports to be echoing off the walls. But there was silence. Zak wheeled his chair around and away from the window. He looked at the door for a few minutes, waiting to see if any more nurses would come in on him. Seeing no one, he wheeled himself over to the dresser beneath the TV and pulled the first drawer open. Within, beneath the two layers of his husband's heavy metal band shirts, Zak found the P- SB22 Spirit Box, the last one that he had bought before his show ended. He smiled as his shaking, wrinkled, old hands ran over the smooth metal.

With a sigh, he closed the drawer and turned his wheelchair so he faced the empty bed that sat next to his. Photos lay on the table in between the two beds and Zak stared at them intently. There was a small one, the image blurry since the camera quality then was not as good as it was now, and he recognized it from the day he met Nick and Aaron at that wedding so many years ago. Another one was a group photo of the three of them when they went to Ireland and another when they went to Mexico. The third one was the newer, but not the newest. Zak, a good forty years younger than he was now, stared at him, his arms wrapped around his husband. Nick was so much younger, no wrinkles and no coughing fits late at night. On their fingers, two matching wedding bands glistened next to a pair of matching, tattooed rings. Zak looked down at his own fingers and smiled at the wrinkled ink ring. It was so many years ago, but the memory was fresh. He looked back up at the last picture. It was Christmas and Nick and him sat in front of the fireplace in their Las Vegas home. A small girl with bright red hair sat on Nick's lap, while a ten year old girl with blonde hair sat beside him. On Zak's lap, he held a baby boy, the tuff of hair on his head growing lighter, but, as time would roll by, it would grow darker. It was a big step in their relationship, but Zak was glad he made the decision. His daughters and son, even though they were adopted and only the blonde girl was of Nick's blood, were the best thing he had ever done. They were all grown up now and little Annabelle, the girl who would bite Zak's fingers when he tried to take her blonde, pigtails down, was pregnant with twins. Zak and Nick were going to be grandparents. At least, Zak was.

He gave another sigh and looked down at the Spirit Box in his hands. Without even thinking, he turned it on and the room was filled with the sound of static. He looked back up at his wedding photo. He needed this and he hoped it worked.

"Hello, my name is Zak," he fell back into the ease of ghost hunting like it was second nature, "Who am I speaking to?" He waited a couple seconds, but only thing he could hear was the shifting channels as they ran over radio stations nearby. He decided to try again, "Please, who is here with me?" And again there is was nothing. Anger soon flooded his system and he gave a frustrated sigh, "Fine! I want to speak to Nick Groff- Bagans. Is he here?" He was desperate for answers and he waited ten minutes for an answer. When all seemed lost, he got a response.

"Zak?" It was faded, but it grew louder until Zak was sure he had heard it.

"Nick?" He asked cautiously, hoping it wasn't some demon that was preying on him and mimicking the sound of his loved ones, "Nick, is that you? Can you hear me?"

"Zak!" Nick's voice was crystal clear and his Eastern accent had Zak smiling, "I can hear you!"

"Nick!" Zak cried out in relief and his blue eye searched the room for an signs of movement, "Where are you?"

"I-I-I-I don't know," Nick responded.

"How did you get here?" Zak felt bad for interrogating his husband like this, but he needed answers.

"I was in some room; it was completely white and then I heard you calling out to me. All I could think was that I needed to get to you," Nick informed him, but he switched to being the one to ask questions, "Where are you? I can't see anything!"

"I'm in our room, in front of your bed," Zak replied cheerfully, "I wish I could see you."

"Hang on," was Nick's last reply before the Spirit Box went dead with static.

Zak waited, his eyes shifting over the room quickly. He looked for shadows and light anomalies; any sign that his lover would return. Then, suddenly, a large ball of light shot through the window and landed on Nick's bed in front of him. Zak covered his eyes as the light intensified before it dulled down. It was blinding white. Then, he took his hand away and watched as the light disappeared, dissolving into a figure that sat perched on the edge of Nick's bed.

"Nick?"

The figure was a much younger version of his husband. His brown eyes were youthful and his cheeks flushed with life. He smiled so brightly, like heavens light was shining through him. He wore a plain grey t-shirt and a pair of black pants. To Zak, he looked like the Nick he had made the documentary with back in 2008. The figure nodded and reached out to Zak, "It's me, Zak."

Zak smiled and reached out to the younger man, their fingers going straight through one another. All he could feel was cool air. Zak's smile faded, blue eyes connected with brown, "So, this is real?"

"As real as you want it to be," Nick said, still smiling.

"Am I dreaming?" Zak asked.

"If you were, why don't you wake up?" Nick responded, leaning forward off of his bed.

"I-I-I," Zak swallowed the lump forming in his throat, "I don't want to," Nick simply smiled, returning to his position on his bed, "I miss you, Nicky."

Nick laughed at his nickname, "I miss you, too, Zak."

Zak smiled at the sound of Nick's laughter. He thought he would never hear that joyful, soulful sound again, "How's...," he tried to form words, "How's... You know."

Nick nodded, "It's white. _A lot_ of white," he chuckled again, "You'd hate it there, with your black soul and all," the younger man teased and Zak laughed.

"What else, Nick?" Zak continued to ask and sat back in his wheelchair more comfortably, "Tell me everything, please."

"I don't know much, but it's warm and beautiful," Nick said and watched his husband stare up at the ceiling, his smile soft as if he were thinking, "There's a city and there are millions of people from so many time periods, but that doesn't matter. They live together happily."

Zak sighed, "It sounds beautiful."

"I've learned something too, Zak," Nick told him and he looked at his husband, their gazes locking once more, "The ghosts we thought we were hunting? They're in Hell. Earth is Hell, Zak. Ghosts are what happens when you die and are not received in Heaven."

"What?" he processed the information in his head, "That's.... That's... Amazing! It makes perfect sense!"

"Shhhh!" Nick scolded him, brown eyes glancing at the door to the room, "We don't want to wake up the neighbors and nurses. You know you will end up in the mental ward if you're caught in the middle of the night talking to your dead husband."

"But I _am_ talking to my dead husband," Zak pointed out, a smirk wide on his old face.

Nick laughed, "That you are, that you are."

"Why are you telling me these things, Nicky?" Zak asked, confusion in his eyes.

Nick smiled softly and raised his hand out to his husband, "I've come for you. We can leave, right now."

"What?" Zak could hardly believe the words coming out of his husbands mouth. Was he being serious? Was it his time already?

"Come with me, Zak. Aaron, Billy, and Jay are excited to see you," Zak could hardly believe what he as hearing and he began to cry. Nick saw this and jumped down from his seat on his bed and kneeled down next to his husbands wheelchair. His hands reached out for Zak and touched him. Zak gasped, soft tears rolling down his old face, "Shhh, Zak, what's the matter? Did I say something?"

"No," Zak shook his head and looked up into the brown eyes of his husband, "I'm just so happy. You're here," he reached out to touched the young face before him. Nick leaned into his touch, his lips kissing the wrinkled skin, "I...," Zak trailed off.

Nick looked up at Zak, "Will you come with me? One last adventure?" He smirked so devilishly, Zak wanted to kiss the smirk off his lips.

"Yes!" Zak smiled so brightly.

Nick stood up and held his hand out to the older man, "Take my hand, Zak," and he did. With that single touch, Zak felt strength flood his system. He stood up on his shaking legs, the wheelchair lay forgotten beneath him. Nick leaned in and their lips met. Zak moaned as he felt his husbands young lips against his own. He felt like he was younger again. And, though they could not see it, Zak's skin grew younger and his hair grew shorter and darker. He felt healthier and more youthful. Nick broke their kiss and looked at his now youthful husband. He smiled, "Are you ready?"

Zak didn't even need to think, he knew his answer, "Yes," and Nick leaned in once again, kissing Zak softly.

 _One last adventure_ , he thought and his vision went white.

**Author's Note:**

> Banner credit to me


End file.
